time and time again
by patriciaselina
Summary: This is how it goes: they are left with each other, they wait, and when he thinks he needs to, he buys her ice cream, waiting for Kumiko to go home. That is how it is, and that is how it always will be. OC POV   Shinkumi, oneshot.


**Title**: time and time again

**Series**: Gokusen

**Characters**: OC!Hoshi, Shin, Kumiko, and many others

**Rating**: PG13 to be safe

**Genre**: Friendship/Family/Fluff. This is the mood between Shin and Hoshi. Between Shin and the not-onscreen Kumiko, though, the genre may be Romance/Fluff/Angst like I always write them.

**Warnings**: This is another fic with the "Hoshi" OC I used in "stuffed". If you don't like OCs in your fic, then don't read this. Also, inaccuracies, OOC-ness in some parts, and such. The usual. A rather long AN at the end that you can skip if you don't want it. =_="

**Summary**: This is how it goes: they are left with each other, they wait, and when he thinks he needs to, he buys her ice cream, waiting for Kumiko to go home. That is how it is, and that is how it always will be. OC POV + Shinkumi, oneshot.

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><p>The first time it happens, it is a necessity. Hoshi's school dismisses her thirty minutes too early, and Kumiko has a faculty meeting to attend. There is nobody else to go to, and she has no time to teach the girl how to stay with her big brothers Tetsu and Minoru in their takoyaki stall, so she looks for him on the rooftop and asks – she doesn't beg, her big sister never begs anybody for anything – asks him, if he could maybe watch her for a while, since she's a good girl and won't give him any trouble, and for the love of everything that is sacred and holy if you have any of 'those' magazines like your classmates do, Sawada, don't show them to her.<p>

He nods, and they are left there; Hoshi tucks her legs under her skirt as she takes her place on the floor some two feet or so away from him. They don't say anything, and maybe they don't need to, and so Hoshi prepares herself for thirty of the quietest minutes of her entire fourteen-year life.

They stay that way for about ten minutes, and by then Hoshi is pretty sure that Sawada Shin has completely and utterly forgotten that she is there. He continues reading his magazine, for one; and doesn't as much look in her direction (well, he actually does, from time to time, but she doesn't look at him long enough to see that), and so she is startled out of her skin when he says, suddenly and without preamble: "Let's get you some ice cream."

She doesn't know that he heard her stomach growl a few seconds ago, and when she knows she is rightfully embarrassed, because she is a proper lady and proper ladies are supposed to worry about those kinds of things. But he doesn't notice this, and if he does he lets her angst about it in silence. This is the one things that Sawada-san is that Hoshi's family is not; he grants her her secrets, and she thinks this is the reason why her big sister thinks so highly of him.

It has never been hard to keep up with his pace, even if this is the first time they've been left together. She doesn't know why she feels so secure, so not awkward with the redhead, even if there is something in the way that other people are looking at them that should probably hint that she should be feeling the exact opposite. (They had probably seen that they look too not alike to be brother and sister, and that puts the people guessing in a pickle as to how they are related to each other.)

The ice cream stall is just down the road, and Hoshi knows that they can get back to Sister before her meeting ends. She chooses two scoops of strawberry on one of those sugar-coated wafer cones; he takes a scoop of vanilla in a cup with a spoon. He pays for both their orders before she gets the wherewithal to hand over the excess change in her pocket, and there is guilt in her eyes, he can see it, so he pats her on the head (it is like when her sister ruffles his hair for something he did, she thinks), and his lips fight against each other as they threaten to quirk up in one of his littlest smiles, as he tells her it's alright.

Hoshi knows now, by then, that she wants Sawada Shin and her big sister to get married someday.

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><p>The second time, he sees her on the way to Shirokin, dismissed early again (Yankumi had told him that this was because she wasn't a member of any clubs), and he is out the door, skipping classes (because she is a model student and he is sleepy and not a model student, not at all). Their eyes meet, just one fleeting glance, and she bows one of her deepest bows, second only to the one she gives Grandfather and Uncle and her big siblings.<p>

He has a double-strawberry wafer cone in his hands before she can even say anything. She smiles and accepts it, and motions to the spot beside her on the bench she is now sitting on. They sit beside each other, he pushing small spoons of vanilla past his lips, she carefully working on the strawberry-streaked ice cream so it won't drip to the floor and get wasted. It is somewhat of a routine, familiar, and she decides that she likes it.

He asks her why she was going to the school, and she says that her sister had told her to come and she'll drop her off before she goes out to have some drinks with Mister Shinohara (a fact that, when she says it, makes her hear a small sound that reminds her of gagging on something coming from Sawada-san's direction). She tells him, with just the right amount of mirth the and the right about of deadpan in her voice, that her sister had been preparing day and night for the affair, reading articles in magazines a girl Hoshi's age probably should be reading about things like hair rollers and wrap dresses and high heels. He is not too attuned to the idea of her big sister going out – and probably dating? – Mister Shinohara, and she does not want her sister to marry their family's lawyer either, through it is with no fault on his part.

"But," she says when she is pretty sure that Sawada-san is not choking on his spoon anymore, "if you were to ask me, I would choose you over him."

His eyes blink in that way that only a man deep in confusion could, but she pops the remaining tip of her cone in her mouth and chews, no longer saying anything else about the matter, even if she knows that he is not like her sister and he probably knows what she talking about.

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><p>The third time, it is not a school day, and they are approached by the police.<p>

If not for their all-too-different bone structure, they would have been mistaken for brother and sister, both quiet and stoic and with the same order of ice cream – she has vanilla this time, she wants to see why he likes it so much – but as it happens, there is a serial kidnapper wandering around these days (Big Sister had told her that; this is probably why she took her over to Shin's apartment before going off with the others to that big important yakuza gathering), and his red hair apparently stuck out like a sore thumb, and so when Sawada-san goes to the garbage bin to throw their cups, the police officer approaches her on the bench and asks her, with forced civility on his face and no sincerity in his tone whatsoever (but she knows he's for real, her sister always tells her to be careful about cops, and to know whether they were real or not); "Young lady, who was that man sitting beside you?"

She knows that if she says that he is merely her "friend" or "sister's friend" or "sister's student", the sort-of scary policeman will come up to him next, and probably ask him to "come over here a moment". She also knows that if she says that they are siblings the policeman would know she is lying, and even if she also looks different from Big Sister Kumiko and Big Brothers Tetsu and Minoru, they live in the same house, and Sawada-san does not, and she knows that that is different.

Hoshi has no choice but to think on the fly, then.

"Excuse me, young miss?"

"I said he's my brother-in-law." She says finally, and when she says it she thinks she can even believe in herself when she says it. "We were supposed to meet with my big sister, but she had somewhere else she needed to go, so he took me out for ice cream instead." She stands up, dusting the dust off her skirt as if there really was dust; tilting her head Sawada-san's direction, as if to tell the officer that there was no need for him to get fixated on her "in-law" anymore as they were just going to leave. "I appreciate the kind word, sir, but I believe we shall be going now."

Here is the thing about not being raised in the Kuroda family: Hoshi is a much better liar than her big siblings and uncle. So when he turns to her, the look in his eyes wordlessly asking her why she talked to that police officer, she says nothing, and Shin doesn't ask.

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><p>The fourth time, he is colder and quieter towards her sister for some reason, but her Uncle Kyo calls him "Red Lion", and so Hoshi doesn't know if Sawada-san has drifted further or closer to the Kurodas, and so she doesn't think about it, as well. He orders vanilla again and she dark chocolate, the bitter notes of the ice cream coming to her at about the same time as the sweetness and the coldness of it. He asks her why she decided to have chocolate, with the tone that told her that he wasn't usually one to ask such petty questions, and she answers him anyway.<p>

"Chocolate is Big Sister's favorite." She says, and his eyes clench on "big sister" the same way they used to when she said "Mister Shinohara", and she understands why now, but decides not to comment on it. "She doesn't like something this bitter, though. But she really likes milk chocolate bars, so I think she'll like some variation of this flavor."

He nods along, and she knows the way he's poking at his scoop says that he's thinking about something. Probably about what he just told his classmates that afternoon – she always knew Sawada-san liked her sister, but she never thought him as the type to answer his friends truthfully when asked about the subject. He was braver than she gave her credit for, then, and that was not an easy feat.

She knows he wants to ask her a question. She knows he wants to ask her about things, silly things, like what is her big sister's favorite color or food or what she does on weekends (other than the usual yakuza matters – he already knows that). She knows he wants to ask her how is it that Kumiko-oneesama manages to stay so happy and cheerful despite all the pressure, and what exactly does she see in Mister Shinohara that he doesn't have? She knows that he wants to ask her about Grandfather, about what exactly Uncle Kyo had meant when he said Sawada-san would make a good fourth-generation head to the Kuroda clan (and she knows how this will happens, because it involves white dresses and vows and a kiss at the end). But he doesn't, because he is Sawada and he is not the type to ask those things, and she knows that.

So instead, she decides to answer the questions for him, without him saying so. "Big sister said she likes Yakuza movies, but she also likes Yakuza TV shows better. Those real sappy, dramatic, action-packed ones." She nods to no one in particular, and she can feel the wheels in his head turning, as if committing this useful information to memory just as she knew he would. After all, he knew that she 'liked music' after her sister told him only once; Kumiko-oneesan was right and he really was a good listener. "When she's not busy with grading papers and chores and the occasional run-in with the other clans, she likes trying to cook – and I do mean trying, but if she asks you about what I said, tell her I know she's getting better. She's not too picky about food, but she likes hot pot after a rough and tiring day."

"Also," Hoshi looks at him once, and oh my goodness did he just blush? Don't tell me he thought that I wouldn't catch him listening so intently about my sister? "I don't know what she sees in Mister Shinohara, but I do know that her favorite color is red." She motions to his hair, and his face matches it now, if that was even possible.

* * *

><p>The fifth time, he is in college and living under their roof, preparation for the moment that her sister finally sees the light and they become the clan head together. She is fifteen and in high school, and she orders two cups of strawberry in a cup because she can't have it spilling on the new uniform her sister bought her, now can't she? He is smiling now; many had fought, but it was he who won. It was he who integrated himself so snugly in their family that she fears her big sister could no longer function without him, and she smiles because she knows that Kumiko-oneesama no longer has to be alone, because he is here and will always be here, and for all people say about the fickleness of teenagers he hasn't changed a bit.<p>

Big Brother Shin (yes, he actually does not protest when Grandfather told her to call him that, not too long after when he first moved in) has something else to do, some training sessions with Uncle Kyo (to prepare for the day when he must ask – and fight for – her sister's hand, she is sure of that), and he doesn't need to tell her we should do this again because they just don't work that way, like all the other sort-of brother-and-sister relationships, because even when nothing is said they still end up where they need to be anyway.

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><p><strong>Omake! Two years later.<strong>

They had both snuck out from some needlessly lengthy yakuza meeting or other a few moments ago, and it amuses Hoshi that she can actually do such things, and that he had actually taken her – she had expected him to stay with her sister, but he probably knew that she could handle her own, and besides, the other Yakuza head was so sweet on Kumiko that he probably also considered her to be like his granddaughter. The dark trench coat he wore hid the dark suit he wore underneath, and she was dressed in a dark pink dress of what her sister considered to be formal attire, with a bow on the neck and frills on the hem. They sit on the park bench where they always had all these years, and this time, she orders passionfruit and he dark chocolate.

One of Hoshi's classmates sees them there and approaches; she is shopping for groceries with her sister. Suzuna is the first friend that she has made in her high school, both of them the same and different in the right amount of things. Suzuna's big sister and her big brother exchange a cursory nod; they can't be that much older than each other, she thinks absently. The two girls exchange some pleasantries about exams and classes and forgetting homework and such, before Suzuna, in that weird blunt way of hers, asks her the question people always ask when they see them together: "And he is your…?"

Hoshi smiles that little smile of hers, pushes another spoon of tart passionfruit past her lips, and says, rather simply, like she had two years ago, when everything was different and yet remained the same: "Brother-in-law."

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><p><strong>fin.<strong>

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><p><strong>AN:** Aaah now that came out of nowhere. Another thirty-minute crack-addled creation, which I think made less sense than the one that came before it. Well. I hope someone out there likes it. I tried my best.

I have no notes on the timelines of any of the segments, regretfully. But the fourth one comes directly after the second-to-the-last segment of "stuffed", where Hoshi-chan hears Shin say that he *thinks* he is falling in love with Yankumi to his friends. Most of the things she says about her big sister come from other, much more awesome Shinkumi fanfics that I have taken to reading; Moon Klutz's 30kisses in particular is my model for the setting of the fifth part and the omake. Actually, the omake _was_ supposed to be the fifth part, I just don't know what came over me anymore ;o;

Strawberry ice cream is sweet and a bit tart; passionfruit tart and a bit sweet. I've only had passionfruit as fro-yo, though. ;w; It's supposed to symbolize how Hoshi-chan has matured or something. Also, I have this headcanon that while she knows nothing about how to protect herself, Hoshi somehow manages to talk her way out of sticky situations. That's the reason why Yankumi's only training her when she graduates from middle school. Or something. =_="

Suzuna and her sister ("Misaki") are inspired from the girls of the same names in the other fandom I'm in, Kaichou wa Maid-sama! I think that Suzuna would get along with Hoshi for some reason…they're both quiet, and clever. But since I didn't extrapolate further, this isn't a crossover. I think.

You might not want to read this, but since I just wanted to get it out of my head, have a little Hoshi-chan profile:

Name: Hoshi Kuroda-Yamaguchi [Officially, she'd be using Yamaguchi, since Yankumi's her 'sister', but as Ryuichiro ('Grandfather') was the one who adopted her, she might use the Kuroda name as her surname instead. The jury's still out and my head still hurts about this matter]

AKA: Hoshino Toraya [This is a cover name she uses in her school records; Yankumi is the only one listed in her school records, as her cousin (after three years, Shin is listed in her records as her cousin-in-law). Hoshino can mean 'from the stars' (Remember that her real name, Hoshi, simply means 'star'), and Toraya comes from a Japanese confectionery store…but well, the 'Tora' in Toraya means 'tiger', if that makes any sense]

Birthday: [She cannot remember her birthday due to her trauma she has of her childhood. But in my headcanon, it's July 7, Tanabata, also known in Japan as the Ponytail Day XD Yes, that was a Lucky Star reference]

Bloodtype: AB [Well, she is quite of a schemer…]

Appearance: A brunette with a petite frame and black eyes. Her hair is almost always tied up into a ponytail.

…well. After wasting a few minutes of your life with my ranting and such, I will now thank you for taking the time to read all of this. It is you, the readers, who constantly say such good things about the stuff I write (even if I do admit that I am not that good, at all), that inspire me to keep writing! ^_^ Until we meet again, dears!

**Reviews are loved and appreciated but not at all demanded.**


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